# What's more accurate? Mirrors or Photos?



## x___downtown (Oct 23, 2006)

What is a more accurate source of what other people see when they look at you? Do they see the way you look when you look at yourself in the mirror.. or.. oh god please no, do they see the way you look in pictures?

I was feeling SO good today, I looked in the mirror and my hair looked really good and my skin and everything. So I decided I'd take pictures.

I got out my camera (*HP PhotoSmart R607*) and started taking pictures. I had to have taken ATLEAST 100.. they all turned out so bad. They made my hair look so ugly deformed and weird, my bangs so thin and out of place.. my skin so PALE, my eyes had no color, my face looked so fat, my nose, lips.. everything was SO UGLY!!!!! And then I looked in the mirror and I looked completely different.. then I took a VIDEO with the camera and I looked exactly the way I did in the mirror!

What is the problem? Do I need a better camera? Pleeeassee help me!! I'm scared to even leave my house now rofl


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## Annalee (Oct 23, 2006)

It could have been the settings on the camera it self. as you said when you took a video (was it) ? that this looked the same as in the mirror, try messing with the color settings etc on the camera, and try again, please dont beat your self up over that! OK.......try again!


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## jaybe (Oct 23, 2006)

I have exactly the same problem. I go to a wedding or something. Feel a million dollars and everyone tells me I look so nice. Then I see the photos afterwards and I look hideous and I want to cry! I think I'm coming to terms with the fact that I rarely take a good photo. So I can't give you any tips but lighting makes a huge difference. The best photos of me have been in strong daylight but not full sun. The worst is overhead lighting which creates deep ugly shadows around the eyes and nose and light bounces off my nose which makes it look bigger. Ugh! You only have to watch ANTM to realise even the prettiest girls can take really bad photos. So don't feel bad I bet you looked gorgeous. Trust your mirror.


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## xXxBeckyxXx (Oct 23, 2006)

oh this is like me too! i look horrid in pics but then i did realise that our mirror image isnt how we look to everyone else which sucks!


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## Kimmi201 (Oct 23, 2006)

same thing w/ me..but one day i finally asked my b/f im like..is this how i really look in real life (pointin to pic) hes like noooo not at all u look totally different like a different person..its crazy u just take horrible pics..it kinda sucks that i take bad pics but im definetely relieved that thats not how i look cause the pics are sooo bad..

so id def go by the video cause that is u movin around the way people actually see u ..so dont worry u looked hot =)!!


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## Aquilah (Oct 23, 2006)

I think I look better in the mirror some days, and other days I look better in pics... I don't know if it's the lighting or what, but it varies LOL!


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## monniej (Oct 23, 2006)

i think the human eye allows us to see a person in all dimensions and is much more forgiving than photos. you know, i even look different in certain mirrors or in certain light. i may have to take many pics before i get one that i think is flattering to me, but everytime i look in the mirror i feel gorgeous!


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## Jennifer (Oct 23, 2006)

i always just go in natural light and check myself!


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## Princess6828 (Oct 23, 2006)

Well, there are PLENTY of times where I think I look great in the mirror, so I'll decide to take a picture. I'll take like a million and think I look terrible in all of them. I certainly HOPE that I just don't photograph well, cause seriously, how could I look so good in the mirror and then look wretched in a picture? Well, just to make myself feel better anyway I'll say I don't take pictures well.


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## Little_Lisa (Oct 23, 2006)

Originally Posted by *monniej* /img/forum/go_quote.gif i think the human eye allows us to see a person in all dimensions and is much more forgiving than photos. you know, i even look different in certain mirrors or in certain light. i may have to take many pics before i get one that i think is flattering to me, *but everytime i look in the mirror i feel gorgeous*! I wish I felt the same. I often feel I look ugly or horrible in the mirror so I don't even attempt pics. I have noticed certain lighting is more flattering, though.


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## cherryredlips (Oct 23, 2006)

For me, mirrors are okay...sometimes. It depends on the lighting, really. But I am still not very photogenic. I look a lot worse in photos than I do in real life.

Last year, in my school picture, it didn't even LOOK like me.


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## bluebird26 (Oct 23, 2006)

Personally I prefer mirrors, I hate photos of myself, I can never find the right lighting, pose and when someone takes a photo of me I'm like a deer in a headlight.


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## pinkbundles (Oct 23, 2006)

i have the same problem. i could come out thinking i look great and then see a picture and it's awful. i guess i'm not photogenic.


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## mehrunissa (Oct 23, 2006)

Same here - one photo out of 20-30 will look remotely like how I see myself in the mirror. I hate having photos taken!


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## janetsbreeze (Oct 23, 2006)

i hate photos!!! i have to be the most unphotogenic person alive - in pics i have a big giant head with virtually no features




. a least, that is how i feel i look in pictures. i much prefer mirrors to tell me what i look like


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## KimC2005 (Oct 23, 2006)

I prefer mirrors. I am not a very photogenic person at all and when I see pictures of myself I always hate them. We are getting ready to take some engagement pictures and I know that I will be the one that hates every single one of them! I just look bad in pictures.


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## beautynista (Oct 23, 2006)

I like to think mirrors are more accurate. I'm sooo not photogenic.


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## mabelwan (Oct 23, 2006)

Yeah, I prefer mirrors too! Thank god for the invention of digital camera cuz back from the days I used film camera, I looked ugly in almost every pic I took. But now I can reserve only the pretty pics in my digicam memory card. I hate to take pic sometimes cuz I'm not a photogenic person.


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## BrazenBrunhilda (Oct 23, 2006)

I am NOT photogenic. I never have been. It is distressing. I look so bad in pictures that many people close to me can't believe the picture is of me...now you know you take a bad photo when people say that.

BUT THINK ABOUT IT THIS WAY...

I have known some really unattractive people who take unbelievably beautiful photos. Heck...look at America's Next Top Model...some of those chicks are just plain ugly...honestly...but the camera loves the curves of their faces and they look gorgeous! The old Hollywood movie star Heddy Lamar was not photogenic at all...in fact, some photos made her look positively awful. But in person people said she was one of the most beautiful women in the world! And on top of that...I saw Cameron Diaz in a restuarant in Manhatten a couple years back...the poor thing was hideious...I mean honestly horrid. But in photos she is beautiful! I goes both ways...I am telling you...just because you show up bad in a photo doesn't mean you really look like that.


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## pla4u (Oct 23, 2006)

I know what you meen,, a camera especily when using a flash can make you look diffrent , with odd shadows and detail that isn't normaly visible..


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## han (Oct 23, 2006)

Originally Posted by *xXxBeckyxXx* /img/forum/go_quote.gif oh this is like me too! i look horrid in pics but then i did realise that our mirror image isnt how we look to everyone else which sucks! why is that i wonder?
i dont like pics or mirriors if i dint have to put on mu i wouldnt bother looking


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## SimplyElegant (Oct 23, 2006)

I guess I'll be the first to admit that I like how I look in pictures. I like how I look in the mirror too because I find it to be more accurate though.


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## BrazenBrunhilda (Oct 23, 2006)

I love the way I look in pictures if I photoshop someone else's head on my body.


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## pj03079 (Oct 23, 2006)

Thank you for that post. I take horrible pictures, but when I take a good one it makes me look better looking than I am. Go figure??


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## xXMelissaXx (Oct 24, 2006)

It all depends on the lighting. Sometimes I'll look in my bathroom mirror and I look great but then I look in my car mirror and my foundation looks unblended. Same thing with pictures.


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## sadhunni (Oct 24, 2006)

i'm not sure... but i like seeing myself in the mirror more than photos.


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## LilDee (Oct 24, 2006)

omg same goes for me! i look absolutely rediculous in pictures most of the time!!!

but in the mirror and in real life you see more movement and more importantly, it's all 3D...

The camera is flat.. even somewhat on film because the tv screen is flat..

it's not for nothing they say camera's add 10 pounds...

in pictures you see everything one-dimentional..

this is why makeup artists have to do a lot of shading and contouring with their makeup and the photography has to make sure the lighting is flattering to the model...


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## posterofagirl (Oct 25, 2006)

lol... This is why I don't allow people to take pictures of me. I'll think I'll look cute, someone will take a picture and when I see it I'm like "Oh god, why didn't anyone tell me I was this hideous?"

It's pretty discouraging, but whatever. I guess I'm just not photogenic.


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## lynnda (Oct 25, 2006)

Originally Posted by *BrazenBrunhilda* /img/forum/go_quote.gif I love the way I look in pictures if I photoshop someone else's head on my body. I look terrible in pics! Usually I can feel pretty confident by looking in the mirror that I look okay! (Wow I am so self confident! j/k



)


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## spazbaby (Oct 26, 2006)

I think mirrors are more accurate because the concept of a mirror is much simpler than a camera. There are many variables when taking pictures with a camera such as lighting, angle, shadows, shine, flash or no flash, and colors (clothing, skin, hair) that are "picked up" in unpredictable ways. That's my opinion!


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## Maned Jones (Nov 28, 2006)

One reason why pictures are more accurate is that when you look in a mirror your left and right is switched. When you look in the mirror you are not seeing what you look like to other people. So alot of people think they look bad in pictures because you are used to seeing themselves in the mirror which is not the same as photo.


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## TylerD (Nov 28, 2006)

I hate mirrors! I HATE THEM DAMMIT!!! Especially those damn mirrors in wal mart with the fluorescent lighting... One day im gonna smash them, I hope they arent accurate.


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## Leony (Nov 28, 2006)

Originally Posted by *spazbaby* /img/forum/go_quote.gif I think mirrors are more accurate because the concept of a mirror is much simpler than a camera. There are many variables when taking pictures with a camera such as lighting, angle, shadows, shine, flash or no flash, and colors (clothing, skin, hair) that are "picked up" in unpredictable ways. That's my opinion! I agree.


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## Nolee (Nov 28, 2006)

OMG thank GOD im not alone!!

I look WAY much better in mirrors like WAAAAAY better, sometimes when i look at the mirror and like wat i see, i bring a cam and play with it if im bored, but god i always end up feelin like sh*T!! i always ask my sis if i look like this in real life and she's like hell no, u just take bad pics thats all, but Every single time??!!

now i feel much better, haha love u guys


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## FeverDream (Nov 28, 2006)

I ALWAYS look better in mirrors, and it's so frustrating! I know it's not my camera that's taking bad pictures, it may just be the way the lighting is captured. I think if you have a picture taken with a DSLR it captures you the same way a mirror would.


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## xXxBeckyxXx (Nov 28, 2006)

Originally Posted by *Maned Jones* /img/forum/go_quote.gif One reason why pictures are more accurate is that when you look in a mirror your left and right is switched. When you look in the mirror you are not seeing what you look like to other people. So alot of people think they look bad in pictures because you are used to seeing themselves in the mirror which is not the same as photo. Yep, i hate it i always think is that how i actually look, when someone compliments me i feel better but when i see a pic i think how can people think im nice.


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